There were several gas stations along the main route, but there were also a ton of cops, cameras, and tolls. We’d be better off cutting through Salmon-Challis and up past Payette. Reaching to drag my fingertip up the map, I grunted to myself thoughtfully.
“There’s only one gas station up there. I’m gonna have to ask Uncle Minter to bring us some gas to have enough to get back down.” Once again, I tapped my feet on the hardwood, and I scratched and rolled my jaw. Some of the apprehension seeped from my gut as the route itself played out in my mind’s eye. I like that way.
“How come you call him Minter? Why’d your mom name you Bruiser? Is it like ye olden days or something, and they name you the trait they hope you’ll develop? Like Chastity, or whatever?” Lifting my head, I frowned as I shrugged, and Parker guffawed as he dropped heavily into his chair once again. “You don’t know?”
“My mother tried to kill me, so no, I never asked her why she named me what she named me. I was raised by my uncle, and I’m pretty sure Minter’s not his name, but it’s what everyone calls him.” My admission shut Parker up, and I sniffed sharply as I shook my head. “There’s no point in questioning it, Parker. It is what it is. My family’s been smuggling since before Canada was even Canada. If you ask my uncle why he’s called Minter, he’ll probably kill you, so I advise you to keep your fucking trap shut.”
“Yeah.” I bit my tongue at Parker’s faltering response, and he glumly sucked on his beer bottle. Shaking my head hastily, I turned my gaze back to the coffee table as my mind wandered. The drive to Canada was almost a thousand miles, and the logistics were formidable. Parker nursed his beer in silence, and I scratched through my stubble as my mind ran through a cycle of dos and don’ts.
“At least it’s getting nicer out, and the cold won’t be so bad up north,” I almost snorted at that, and Parker scowled darkly at me defensively. “What? It’s true.”
“Firstly, it’s April, Parker, and secondly, you’ve never been so far north, have you? It snows in April regularly in Canada.” He tinged pink around the ears, wet as they were, and I took a swig of my bottle before continuing. “Better pack a jacket. A lot can happen in a thousand miles. Part of the reason Spyder can’t go this time is because his bike had trouble handling the distance and terrain.”
“Really? I didn’t know that was why. I thought he wanted to bring Bailey, and you didn’t.” The mention of that girl rose my hackles, and I didn’t even have hackles. Parker’s slippery smirk returned, and a knowing glint brightened his bland, brown eyes. “You’ve made it pretty clear you don’t like her. Why not?”
“I don’t not like her, specifically. She’s just the kind of person I don’t like. Smart and capable of some fucked up shit, wrapped up in a pretty face. Chicks like that are dangerous. I wouldn’t get involved with a woman like her.” Parker snickered, but I had plenty of reason to be wary of Bailey. She fucking ruined her ex’s life to the point that he tried to kill her. Not to mention she’s a tech-head. Like I said, a whole bunch of fuckin’ trouble. “Spyder’s happy with her, and that’s fine, but I’d like to keep some distance. Bailey might not be a typical psycho, but she’s fucking brutal when she wants to be.”
“You think she’d turn on you because you don’t like her?” I almost rolled my eyes at Parker’s probe and grunted lowly as I lifted my beer to my lips. “Hailey likes her a lot.”
“Which isn’t necessarily something I wanna entertain either, Parker. Look—” Catching his eyes with a hard glower, I sat forward to clasp my beer bottle between my knees. “You got no idea what it’s like to grow up lookin’ at everyone as a potential enemy. Despite how levelheaded and shit she is, Bailey obliterated her ex off the face of the planet. Yeah, he beat her up, and yeah, she didn’t deserve to get stalked and attacked, but she’s fucking dangerous and even worse than that, she’s innocuous when she wants to be.”
Parker was quiet, but I was completely convinced that he didn’t understand exactly the kind of person Bailey was. She smiled pretty, probably great in the sack, and Spyder was head over heels for her, so what wasn’t to like? But something about her set me on edge when Spyder and I ran into her at that truck stop in Arizona. It was like the damn gut feelin’ I get when shit’s about to go sideways. I just knew something wasn’t right.
Bailey was wicked smart and didn’t have a single mean bone in her body. She outright asked Spyder a bunch of intuitive and very on-the-nose questions, and he just fucking answered her without care. Even now, months and months later, it made my blood boil thinking about it.
He wasn’t wrong, of course. Bailey was a ride or die bitch if I’d ever met one.
“Anyway . . .” I drained the rest of my bottle and hissed, shaking my head viciously of my thoughts. “It doesn’t matter what I think. I’m not the one fucking her. I’m gonna
